Chris Hughton’s response when asked if McClaren is the right man for Newcastle

Hughton spent just over one season in charge of Newcastle, and he has told talkSPORT that he believes Steve McClaren has all the skills needed to turn things around at St James’ Park this season.

The current Brighton boss said: “I think they’re at that stage now where every game is a big game, but in McClaren, and the quality of his management, they have someone who is very capable of turning things around.”

Whilst a very talented coach respected for his abilities as an assistant boss, there has been little in McClaren’s management career to suggest why Newcastle opted to hire him over the summer.

And he has so far lived up to what many expected of him, with the Magpies sitting in the relegation places after eight games and no victories in the Premier League.

Despite these early season failures, Hughton believes that McClaren is the right man for the job, and is certain that the former Derby boss can turn things around on Tyneside leading them out of the relegation places and back into a force in the top flight.

So far there have been no indications that this will be the case under McClaren, but we are only eight games into the campaign, and the English coach could finally start to impress when the Premier League returns this weekend.

Billy Hawkins

Billy is a freelance writer who contributes to various sites concerning football. Known to possess an obsession with statistics, Eastern European club sides, and Victorian football, he focuses upon the untapped potential of the Football League in the belief it is more enjoyable than the Premier League.